Starch-separating machine.



N. C. NEWELL & J. A. HARRINGTON.

STARGH SEPARATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AYE. 19,1913.

Patented July 28, 1914.

fe; Illl CRM l fg www Q51@ A T TOP/Vt: YE.

N. C. NEWELL 6x J. A. HARRINGTON.

STARCH SBPARATING MAGHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.19,1913.

1,165,294, Patented July 28,1914,

3 SHEETB-SHEBT 2.

A TTUHN/Y Qfm SQQQLWMWW N. C. NBWELL & J. A. HARRINGTON.

STARCH SEPARATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19,1913.

1,105,294. Patented .my 28, 1914L 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

1L.. Pf )ma/1,. www A TTUFe/vg YE.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NELSON C. NEWELL AND JOHN A. HARRINGTON, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN.

STARCH-SEPARATING MACHINE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led April 19, 1913.

Patented July 28, 1914.

Serial No. 762,169.

To all, Aui/mln il, may concern.'

Ile it known that we, Niznsori C. Ni-:wi-:LL

and .lons A. llAnniNoToN, citizens of the.; United States, and residentsof Racine, in; the county of Racine and State of lViscon- In the candymaking industry it is the present practice to form impressions inpowdered starch with patterns in substan tially the same manner as incasting metal in sand and then pour the melted candy into theimpressions to mold the candy to thel shape desired. The molded candieswhen sullieiently cooled to hold their shape are then removed and thestarch is again used by making new impressions with the patterns orforms. l'Vhen the starch is first used it is rather light and fluffy incharacter and does not work as well at the beginning, as it will whenused over and over again due to absorbing moisture and becoming morecompact and it. is, therefore, of considerable importance to use thestarch as many times as possible within certain limits, on account ofthe improved working and also on account of the saving in cost of newstarch. In molding the candy the upper edges of the molded pieces are ofirregular form and break off in removing the pieces from the starch, andalso the tailings or drippings from pouring the melted candy drop intothe starch and harden and when the starch is used over again these smalllinups and particles prevent the formino of smooth impressions and whenthe meliled candy is poured into the molds the candy will form with thesmall lump and articles and the resultant molded pieces will be of veryirregular and rough forms.

lt is one of the objects of the present, invention to provide a starchseparating niachiiie which will overcome the before nientionedobjectionable features and so sepa.

rate the foreign matter from the starch that the starch may be used overand over again. A further object of the invention is to provide a starchseparating machine in which the foreign matter which is separated fromthe starch is in part separated by centrifuoal force acting inconjunction with the specific gravity of the materials.

A further object of the invention is to provide a starch separatingmachine which is o f simple construction and is self-cleaning in itsoperation,

A further object of the invention is to provide a. starch separatingmachine which is provided with an improved bearing for supporting someof the revoluble parts of the machine.

lVith the above and other objects in view the invention consists of theimproved starch separating machine and-its parts and combinations as setforth in the claims and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings in which the saine reference charactersindicate the same parts in all of the views: Figure 1 is a side view ofthe improved starch machine, a part broken away to show interiorconstruction; Fig. 2 is a to view thereof; Fig. 3 is a vertical longituinal sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a verticaltransverse sectional View thereof taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and Fig.5 is a. horizontal sectional view of the drum portion of the machinetaken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

eferring to the drawings the numeral 8 indicates the fixed circularreceptacle or drum of the improved starch machine, 9 the cover therefor,10 the supporting legs thereof and 11 the base upon which the parts aremounted. The medial portion of the cover is provided with an inletopening 12 and the bottom portion 13 is provided with a starch dischargeopening 14 through which the separated and cleaned starch passes. Thereceptacle is also provided with an upper side discharge spout oropening 15 through which the foreign matter separated from the starch ispassed.

An inner conical revolublc receptacle 16 is mounted within the fixedreceptacle and the upwardly diverging conical wall 17 of this receptacleis constructed of line nieshed wire to forni a screen through which thepowdered starch is passed. The screen receptacle is mounted on the upperend of a vertical shaft 18 which is journaled in a Abracket 19 extendingrupwardly from the base 11, and the upper end 19 of the bracketsurrounds the shaft and extends into the bottom portion of the fixedreceptacle. A beveled gear 20 journaled on the upper end 19 of thebrael-:et is in mesh with a beveled pinion 2l mounted on the medialportion of a horizontal shaft 22 which is supported at its inner end ina medial portion of the brat-het l0. The outer end portion of thehorizontal shaft extends through and is supported in one of the le s 10which is slightly modified to form a caring 23, and the outer endportion of this shaft is provided with a belt Wheel 24 and a pulley 25.A beveled gear QG mounted on the inner end of the horizontal shaft Q2meshes with a beveled pinion 27 fast on the vertical shaft 18 in orderto rotate the shaft 18 at a greater rate of speed than the beveled gear20.

The receptacle S is partly divided medially, vertically by an annularpartition 28 having an upturned flange 29 extending from its innerperiphery which forms, with the Wall of the rece ytacle, an annulartroughv 30 to receive the foreign matter separated from the starchWithin the revoluble conical receptacle 1G. The upper peripheral edgeportion of the conical receptacle is provided with an annular dependingapron 31 which is in vertical alinement with the upturned flange 29 andspaced therefrom a short distance to form an annular opening A revolublering member 33 located Within the inner periphery of the upturned liangeoverlaps the upper edge portion of the flange and the lower edge portionof the apron and covers the said annular opening .32. The ring member iscarried by a pair of radial and upstanding arms 34 which are mounted ona collar 353 keyed to the upper end of the bevel gear :20 and rotatetherewith. rlhe collar 33 is positioned within the receptacle 8 andrevolubly rests u )on the bottom portion thereof to forma e ose fit toprevent the escape of Istarch through the bottom opening 3G of thereceptacle. The radial arms 34 also have connected thereto flights orplates iV( shaped to conform to the cross seetion contour of the annularspace 3i" formed between the, walls of the receptacles and the annularpartition and serre to move the separated starch to the dischargeopeningr 14 of the receptacle 8.

The annular partition QS is provided with a plurality of dischargeopenings 39 which are covered by an annular screen 40 restingr on top ofthe said partition. The screen and the openings are provided for afurther separation of starch from foreign matter within the trough 30.ln order to provide for this further separation just previouslymentioned and to discharge the foreign mat ter from the trough 30brushes 4l are provided which are connected to the ring mem ber 33 byarms 4:2, the arms extending through the annular opening 32 whichpermits the brushes to rotate with the said ring member. The brushes inrotating sweep over the annular screen and carry the foreign matteraround the trough until it is finally discharged through the spout l5.

Fixed brushes lil and scraper-s 4t positioned within the conicalreeeptaele and engaging the inner surfare of the serecn por tion thereofare supported from the cover i) of the receptacle to which they areconneeted.

The starch is 'fed into the conical reeeptaele through a charging tube43 which extends through the cover opening,r 1Q to a point adjacent tothe bottom portion of thesaid eonieal reeeptai'le. The upper end of thischarging tube opens into the easingr t6 of an endless chain eonveyer 4Twhirh is adapted to suppl)Y the receptacle 8 willi the starch which isto have the foreign mattei' separated therefrom. The casing extendshorizontally to a point beyond the periphery of the receptacle and adownward extension 4G leads to a point close to the base 11 and isprovided with an upturned charging hopper portion 48. The endless chainconveyer is guided over pairs of sprocket wheels 4S) and 50 and isdriven by the sprockets 531 located at the loiver end portion of theeasing. The flights 52 of the chain travel alon; r the inner walls ofthe easing and carry the material from the lower end of the easing tothe charging tube 45. The inner wall of the easing is rounded at thecorner indicated by the numeral 53 to form an easy bend for the travelof the flights.

ln order to elevate the separated starch to a height to be Convenientlydischarged int-o receiving receptacles (not shown) another eonveverChain 54 is provided which is inelosed Within a discharge oonveyereasing The casing is provided with a reeei ving hopper portion 56located beneath the discharge opening 14 of the easing t5 and -from thishopper portion the conveyor easing extends' upwardly and outwardly at anangle to a lsuflieient height to plaee a receivingl receptacle beneaththe discharge. openinff 5T of the said easing 55. The rhain convey/er ofthis discharge easing is similar to the chain of the other casing andoperates in the, saine manner. lhe chain is provided with Nights 58 andis supported on pairs of sprocket wheels 59, (5() and (il. The sprorketwheels (il loeated at the lower end of the disehargc easing drive theconveyer chain and are mounted on a horizontal shaft (32 which projectsoutside of the easing and at its rear end is provided with a gear ($3.The. sproelcet wheels 5l of the charging easing are also mounted on ahorizontal shaft tiand this shaft, is provided with a rear wheel (35which is in mesh with the gear (33 and drives the same.. A belt wheel 6omounted on the for- Cil ward end of the shaft 64 has a belted connection(3T with the pulley 25 of the main drive shaft and is driven thereby.

In use the starch is fed into the charging opening ot the Charginghopper and the eonveyer chain will move the material up to the chargingtube at which point it will drop through the tube into the rapidlyrevolving conical receptacle. The starch will be thrown outwardly bycentrifugal t'orce and will gradually work up the inclined screen wallof the receptacle. and in working upwardly the starch will he engaged bythe tixed brushes and the scrapers and forced through the screen. As theforeign matter in the s-tarch is usually of greater specific gravitythan the powdered starch the weight co-acting with the centrifugal forceand the inclined wall cause the said matter to rise above the upper edgeet the conical receptacle and to drop into the annular trough where itwill be further engaged by the trough brushes and finally dischargedthrough the discharge spout of the main receptacle. ln engaging theforeign matter the brushes; will sweep the said matter over the screenedbottom portion of the trough and clean ott1 any starch which might clingto the foreign matter and force it through the bottom screen and intothe annular starch space therebcneath. The starch which has biens-=creened through the conical receptacle will drop into the annularstarch space and be engaged b v the flights of the said space and movedto the discharge opening of the main receilitacle. The starch will dropthrough the discharge opening into the receiving hopper ofthe dischargecasing and l bc engaged b v the chain conveyer thereof and elevated tothe discharge opening of the casing and will drop therethrough forfurther use.

From thc foregoing description it will be seen that the starchseparating machine of simple construction and is well adapted for thepurpose specified.

lYhat we claim as our invention is:

l. material separating' machine. comprising in crmlbination, a casing.an open top revoluble conical .screen member mounted therein. means tomember, means for feeding material to be separated to the screen member,means torming an annular trough around and below the top outer edge ofthe screen member with screened openings in the bottom wall thereof. anddevices for removing material which does not pass through the bottom ofthe trough and other devices for removing material which passes boththrough the screen member and the trough.

revolve said screen 2. A material separating machine With a materialinlet opening and two outlet openings, comprising, a main receptacle,means to form an annular trough therein with a screened bottom, a coverfor the main receptacle, a conical receptacle positioned Within the mainreceptacle and formed in part of screen material, the upper edge ot saidconical receptacle being open and projecting above the trough, brushesmounted in the main receptacle to extend into the conical receptacle andengage the ,screen portion there ol'. radial arms` mounted in thereceptacle and carrying flights positioned beneath the annular trough tomove the material passing through the screened bottom and the conicalreceptacle, and brushes connected to the radial armsl and extending intothe trough, and means for rotating the conical member and the radialarms whereby the material forced from the conical receptacle into thetrough and not capable of passing through the screened vbottom willleave the receptacle at one outlet and the material passing through thetrough bottom and the screen portion of the conical receptacle will passthrough the other outlet opening.

A material `separating machine, comprising a main receptacle having anannular medial partition forming an annular trough with a screenedbottom portion7 said receptaele having a foreign matter dischargeopening communicating with the trough and an opening in the bottomportion of the receptacle` a cover tor the receptacle having a chargingopening. a conical receptacle positioned within the main receptacle andhaving its conical wall formed of screen material, the upper portion oflsaid conical wall extending above the annular partition and spacedvertically therefrom, a brush and a scraper fixed to the main receptacleand extending into the conical receptacle, a radial arm mounted withinthe main receptacle and provided with a flight. a band covering thevertical space between the annular partition and the upper portion et'the conical receptacle carried by the radial arm. a brush connected tosaid band and extending into the annular trough and engaging the screenthereot". and means for rotating the conical receptacle and the radialarm at different rates ot' Ispeed.

In testimony whereof. wc atiix our signatures, in presence of twowitnesses.

A. lV. UART.

